Dropship Terra
by rose4100
Summary: Wandering through the vacume of space, alone and searching for revenge, the crew of the starship Terra continue on, towards Earth


Dropship Terra

By Mathew Rose

This story was actually writen three years ago, i only decided to upload it now. Enjoy

A lone man walks down a drab, dreary corridor. The hum of the engine can be heard in the distance.

"Computer, play track eighty-nine." Music begins to play and the man begins to sing along.

"I can't get no…sa-tis-fac-tion. I can't get no, sa-tis-fac-tion. Cause I try, cause I try, and I try, and I try…I can't get no!…I can't get no! When I'm driving in my car, and the man comes on the radio…"

The music echoes throughout the bulkheads of Dropship Terra. Roz Skyhawk, strutting along as the music plays. On his way to the mess hall, he knows what he is in store for as he walks through the doors. As e enters a barrage of 'boo's' and complaints hit Commander Skyhawk. All he does is smile at his fellow shipmates.

Armory Captain Martina Montez, one of Roz's most trusted friend's walks up to him with an unhappy look on her face.

"You know the crew hates that music. Why must you blast it throughout the whole ship?" Martina questions, even though she has already heard the same answer a million times before.

"Because modern music is nothing but pointless beeping crap." Commander Roz says this pretty loudly, making sure that everyone hears.

"Roz……" Martina looks around at the enraged crew. Then looking back at him, a smile on her face. "Fool." She says.

They both walk over to the counter to order their food.

The year is 3012. What once was Earth is now known as Terra. The human race has been split into two factions. "The Brothers of Terra", a civilization that believes they are destined to remain on Terra. Who shun all forms of VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) and space travel technology. And "Children of the Sky", a civilization that have a natural explorer instinct, who have embraced everything that "The Brothers Of Terra" have banished and they have taken it to exploring space.

In the year 2561, The Brothers of Terra, with the aid of large armies, forced Children of the Sky to leave Terra. Believing that they are a corruption that must be eliminated from their ideal life. A large Exodus ensued, more than half the population of Terra left in enormous, carrier ships which were nearly the size of entire cities. Taking with them every type of resource that they could fit in their ships. This would promise their survival for many centuries.

But the promise was short kept. Soon they found themselves running out of the vital components needed to run their ships. One by one, these massive cities in space just simply ceased to function. The only short term option was to dismantle the cities and rebuild them into smaller space craft called "Dropships" and to go on their separate ways. Each venturing out to find a new home. But not without protection. Along with construction ships, the engineers also designed and built weapons of defense. Giant walking battle turrets known as "Gear-Walks", equipped with heavy armor and armed with weapons to match. As well as "Ravens", VTOL combat ships. Each Dropship carries both in case of enemy attack.

Each Dropship is on its way to a desired destination. All except one. One ship is heading back to Terra. To take our their vengeance on the ones who exiled them in the barren cold of space. Dropship "Terra".

The two officers walk over and sit down at an empty table.

Martina leans over to Roz, "Aren't you going to…"

Roz rolls his eyes and curses under his breath, "What a bunch of babies."

Then he speaks up, "Very well then! Computer, cease music."

The music stops playing and over the entire ship cheers could be heard from the relieved crewmen.

Burying his face in his hands, "Oh my god…"

Martina sits across from him, barely containing her laughter.

"Roz…what do you expect? They are not as…cultured as you." Martina chuckles.

Roz looks up seeing a huge grin on her face. He begins to eat.

Later on that day a meeting is held for all Gear-Walk and Raven pilots in the docking bay, which are only 6 people.

Martina, sitting on the nose cone of a Raven, addresses the pilots.

"At 16:00 hours, we will be passing an asteroid field. The Dropship will enter an orbit around the cluster and you will be launched. Commander Skyhawk and myself both agree that this would be an excellent training opportunity in your close combat skills. Along with launching all Gear-Walks and Ravens, we will be sending out Hunter Probes, just to give you a little challenge. They will be set to standard explosive yield. Five giga-tons…so if you get hit, your toast."

The pilots start murmuring among themselves. But are soon silenced and Martina continues.

"This will also be a Trial of Position. So for any of you wanting a rank promotion, here's your chance."

One pilot raised his hand. Martina rolls her eyes… "Yes crewman Kinarya?"

"Call me Chase…babe." Chase grins at Martina as he swipes his hair back.

Martina grits her teeth. "Remember what happened the last time you called me 'babe', crewman Kinarya?"

All the pilots begin to roar with laughter. The last time Chase Kinarya called Martina "babe", he was drug behind the ship by a tow line wearing nothing but a compression suit (He would have been extremely cold).

Roz walks up and puts his arm around Chase. "Just shut up Chase. If you call her that again, I'll mount your ass to the front of my Gear-Walk as a hood ornament. Got that? Good!"

Chase pulls away from Commander Skyhawk, "Sorry Captain Montez, please continue."

"Why thank you crewmen Kinarya for giving me permission to speak. You are very kind." Martina continues. "As I was saying, this will be a Trail Of Position. And you may challenge anyone to obtain their rank."

Chase glances over at Roz with a stern look. Roz waves his fingers at Chase with a large smile on his face.

Martina still talking says. "Very well then. You are all dismissed until 15:45 hours. Dismissed!"

All the pilots leave. Leaving only Martina and Roz in the docking bay.

"God damn it! I'm going to kill him!" roars Martina.

"Ya know...could always set the Hunter Probes to only go after Chase." Suggest Roz.

"You can't do that Roz…" The two of them walk, but Martina stops when they reach the door. "We would lose the Gear-Walk". She says with a smile. Roz begins to laugh. They continue on their way to the lounge.

Roz lays in his room, alone on his bunk. In this part of the ship, Artificial Gravity generators were not installed. In front of his face a stone and a feather float through the air. These are the only two objects on the entire ship that are from Terra. He thinks to himself…

_'What did we really leave behind? Father told me that we fled from war and pain, mother says we left behind the sins of a dying race. Others say we came out here to start a new life. But what is the truth?'_

He reaches out and takes hold of the feather. Weaving it through the air, Roz continues to think.

_'It's quite the contrast…this is so soft and elegant. So beautiful. And this…hard as steel. Rough, dark and unyielding. Always keeping the same form. How can these two things be from the same planet? They are so unalike.' _

Roz sits up abruptly, nearly floating off his bunk.

_'Maybe I'll have a chance to find out…" _

At that moment an alarm sounds and red warning lights flash throughout the ship. Grabbing the items, Roz puts them in a wooden case. As he is running out the door he hesitates and grabs the door frame to stop. Rushing back to the case, he takes out the feather and ties it to his necklace. Roz then floats off to the docking bay.

A voice comes across the speakers.

"This is Armory Captain Montez. All Gear-Walk and Raven pilots report to the docking bay immediately for launch."

After all the pilots arrive and suit up, Martina and Chief Engineer Patrick Arigata stand in front of the pilots. Patrick begins…

"Ok you guys, I have made a few changes to your Gear-Walks. When you start the system up you will notice that your helmets now have built-in LCD screens which are inserted in the visors on your helmets. These will display your Gear-Walk's damage and ammo count. Also you will have the option to enable a battle field display, which will show the position of all friendly and enemy units. You may find it disorienting at first but I'm sure you will get the hang of it quickly." Patrick takes a step back, a wide smile on his face.

Martina gives him an inquisitive look. "Proud of your new upgrade Pat?"

"Damn right!" All the pilots break out laughing at Patrick's response.

"Very well then. You all know what to do. So lock an load!" After Martina gives the order she leaves the hanger.

At that all the pilots rush to their Gear-Walk or Raven. All except Roz.

"Hey Patrick? Did you upload the program into my Gear-Walk that I asked for?" Roz asks.

"Sure did Roz. I'd rather have you playing that stuff out there than in here."

With an annoyed look Roz runs to his Gear-Walk. Patrick yells after him "Hey! Who knows, you might just scare the enemy away with that!"

"Gear-Walk power up. System boot." Roz orders.

An electronic voice responds. "System uploaded. Gear-Walk: Starburst reporting for duty. System status…fuel tanks-full…ammunition racks-armed…armor-polarized. Battle field is currently unrevealed to Gear-Walk: Starburst. Would you like me to load sector star charts to clarify our current position?"

Roz responds to Starburst. "Sorry Starbursts, this is only a training run. No real battle today."

"Affirmative. Gear-Walk controls are transferred to docking bay computer for launch."

Patrick's voice crackles over the intercom. "Ok guys, let's see if I perfected this launch computer. Don't worry, I'll get you out without even touching the paint job. I'm patching in the docking bay computer. Just follow its orders."

"This is Dropship Terra docking bay computer. Release floor clamps and prepare for launch." An electronic voice informs.

"Patrick, this will be different than last time right?" Asks Roz.

"Oh for sure Roz, I spent my coffee break tweaking the program." Patrick simply replies.

"YOUR COFFEE BREAK?" screams Roz.

The engines fire up as the docking bay doors open. All lighting is turned off except the spinning red warning lights. Runway markers are projected out from the bay doors into space.

Roz, very worried asks "Starburst? The armor is polarized right?"

"Affirmative Commander Skyhawk." The Gear-Walk answers.

"Thank god. We'll need it."

A large flash blinds all the pilots as the Ravens are launched. When Roz regains his sight he can clearly see the asteroid cluster through Starburst's cockpit window. All engines rev up and the Gear-Walks are blasted into space at lightning speed. The cockpit is shaking like an earthquake, smashing defenseless Roz around helplessly like a rag doll. When he regains control he pulls up on his flight stick, just missing an asteroid. Reducing speed, he attempts to gain a bearing on his location.

"Starburst? Shall we clear a road?" Roz asks with joy.

"Affirmative." Starburst answers, which is exactly what Roz wanted to hear.

The two great arms of Starburst raise the buster rifle into position and open fire. Bullets of searing hot steel pound into the asteroids, splitting them into little chunks of ice and rock. Opening a path for Starburst to pass through.

"Ok…let's take a look at the battle field display that Pat was talking about." Roz flips his visor down.

Instantly a small 3D sphere appears in front of his eyes. A large white dot and 5 other blue dots appear. As he can tell from the display, he is the only one who has made it inside the asteroid field.

"Hmmm…" Roz looks around through the cockpit windows. "I have to find a good spot to hide."

An alarm sounds and 12 red dots appear on the outer rim of the display sphere. Closing in on the other blue dots.

"And there are the hunter probes…Let's go Starburst."

Roz opens fire and cuts a path through the field towards the other pilots.

God damn hunter probes!" Curses Chase. Three closely following him. The Gear-Walk spins around and fires at the probes. Two are hit and explode, the shockwave rocking Chase's Gear-Walk. Light damage is shown on his display. He nearly dodges the third as it flies by. Attempting to hit and explode on contact. Chase turns and fires, destroying the third probe.

"And that is that. Now where would our little Roz be?" Wonders Chase.

"Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Raven pilot Kay Baka screams as he lets loose his Concussion Missiles upon Chase. All four making direct hits. Chase is flung into and asteroid field. The battle continues among the other pilots.

Roz is still digging his way out of the field. While concentrating on his direction he loses sense of what appears on his display. Suddenly he is hit from behind as a hunter probe explodes. Luckily prematurely detonating on debris from the asteroids. Otherwise Roz would have just been destroyed. Floating helplessly, Starburst is disabled and Roz is knocked unconscious…

Soon the remaining hunter probes are destroyed. Chase being the only known casualty of the training match, him and his Gear-Walk are towed back to Dropship Terra. As the remaining pilots return to the docking bay they discuss and brag about maneuvers and moves they accomplished. Martina was the first to notice.

"Pat? Do you know where Roz is?" Martina asks.

"Ummm…well him and his Gear-Walk haven't returned yet."

"They haven't! Why wasn't I notified earlier? Never mind! Bridge come-in"

A voice comes in over the intercom. "Yes Captain Montez?"

"Scan the area for Gear-Walk Starburst. I'm on my way to the bridge." She rushes out of the docking bay.

The bridge is full of action, everyone rushing around preoccupied with their assignments and busy with the operations of the ship. Martina nearly tripping over a maintenance worker who is repairing a console while she is running in. She runs over to the sensor operator.

"Where is Roz!"

"The thing is…we don't know sir. He doesn't show up on any long range scans and we might have to face the fact that he was destroyed in the training exercise. Because even if his Gear-Walk was disabled or inactive we would still pick him up." The operator is quite confused as he answers Martina.

Tears begin to well up in Martina's eyes. "That's impossible! Impossible! Roz wouldn't let a simple hunter probe hit him! He has to be out there! He's still alive!" She falls into a chair and begins crying.

"You're lying! He's alive, I can feel it! Keep looking!" Jumping up in a fury of tears, she runs out off the bridge for her cabin.

After two days, all searching is exhausted. Roz Skyhawk's funeral is held at 16:00 hours, to remember the time of his last launch.

The cockpit is dark and cold, with frost formed on the windows. Through the thick frost a thin beam of light lays upon Roz's face. Unconscious and floating freely. Suddenly he is awakened by an alarming sound… "Tick, crack, tack, tack…"

Very groggy, Roz pulls himself back down into his seat, rubbing a huge painful bum on his head.

"Starburst, what is your system status?" Roz questions. "Starburst?"

No response is heard.

"Damn hunter probe!" Roz slams his fist on one of the control panels. It flickers to life. "Thank god." After a few taps he discovers the Gear-Walk status and his situation turns grim.

His monitor reads: Weapons-Offline, Propulsion-Offline, AI-Offline, Life Support-21, Computer-Stand by…

With a heavy sigh, he leans back in his seat; he then notices his feather floating by the window. In the beam of sunlight it sparkles, dancing through the air.

Roz's thoughts begin to drift off…

_I wonder what everyone is doing. Martina? She's probably busy running the ship. I'm sure she will be a fine ship's Commander. Better than me. Chase? He's either stuffing his face in the mess hall or pestering a woman on the crew. Damn… I miss him. Just to think I'll never hear him complain about my music again… I'll never see Martina again. See her smile, hear her laugh, hear her call me a "fool". None of that ever again. Why the hell did I drag all of them out here on this god-forsaken crusade? They are all going to die. Why didn't I think? I thought this would be a walk in the park. But we were only kids then, when we all ran off. I just received my title as Ships Commander. And that was 10 years ago. The rest of them were only 18. A year younger than me. Why didn't I think? Why didn't I think…?_

Roz looks down at his monitor. The life support just dropped 4 percent.

"Hmmm… there must be a leak in the system." Roz explains to himself.

He reaches out and takes the feather, placing it back around his neck where it was. Then his spirits seem to brighten.

"Well now! If I'm going to die, I'm dying in style!" Roz declares.

He punches a few keys on his monitor and noise comes from the speakers, but no music is heard.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, I don't think so!" No god damn hunter probe is gonna rob me of my last request!"

The music begins to blast over the speakers and Roz just lays back and relaxes in his seat.

_'The night is calling I have to go, The wolf is hungry he runs to show, He's licking his lips he's ready to win, On the hunt tonight for love at first sting…'_

Dropship Terra, while leaving the area picks up a strangle signal.

"Commander Montez!" a ship attendant informs. "I really think you should hear this."

"Very well." Martina answers, her face stern and cold as stone.

Over the speakers the signal is projected.

_'He's licking his lips he's ready to win, On the hunting tonight for love at first sting…Here I am, rock you like a hurricane…Here I am, rock you like a hurricane…'_

"Crewman! Where is that signal coming from!" Martina turns ecstatic at the sound of the music.

"Oh my god! From the asteroid field sir! What are you orders?" The crewman also full of excitement.

"Send out the Gear-Walk's and search the whole damn asteroid field. Roz is in their! He's got to be!" Martina runs off to the launch bay as a call goes out over the ship for all pilots.

"Well Starburst, you have been a fine Gear-Walk. And you always served me well. Even after you've been blown to kingdom-come, you're still serving me well, and giving me an honorable funeral. Thank you Starburst." Roz commends his Gear-Walk.

Music still playing over the speakers. For once, Roz feels totally calm and at peace. On his monitor…Life support – 7.

Suddenly the asteroids ahead of him begin to move and a giant arm drives through. Roz is blinded by light pouring in from the outside world. In the light he sees the dark shadow of a Gear-Walk.

Roz is over-taken with emotion at the sight of the large metallic giant.

Back home in Dropship Terra. The wreckage of Starburst is dragged inside the docking bay and cut apart in order to free Roz. Roz falls to the floor, his body beaten from the explosion. When he looks up he sees the one face he would rather not see in his current state. Above him was Chase, a large grin on his face.

"Hey Roz. What's rock'in man? Have a nice ride?" Chase said with a sarcastic air about him.

"You must enjoy seeing me like this!" Roz shot back. His voice filled with pain and fatigue.

"You would really be surprised…I 'am' the one who saved your butt out there." Chase's face now turns stern.

"…You did what? Why would you do that? You're the one person on this ship that would love to see me gone." Roz spurts out. Completely surprised at what he just heard.

"Well…I thought about it for a while. But…the truth is…" Chase leans down and speaks into Roz's ear. His voice turns softer. "…I'd miss you. Everyone here would miss you. We all need you."

"Thanks." Roz is now ashamed of what he previously thought of Chase.

"And besides…" Chase backs away and speaks loud enough for everyone to hear. "I'd get bored without having someone like you around to beat all the time." He winks at Roz.

"You bloody idiot. Help me up." With a grunt Chase pulls Roz up to his feet.

"Come on Roz, I'll help you to your room." Chase puts his arm around Roz and helps him walk."

They left the docking bay and walked down the long, dark, metal corridors of the ship.

"Hey Chase, what is the real reason you came after me?" Roz asks.

"Well…the truth is, I couldn't leave you out there. I care about you man. Even though I act like I don't. That's just cause I don't want the others to see. I have to keep up my reputation ya know." Chase, now staring at the floor, says with feeling in his voice.

"Thanks Chase. I owe you my life." Roz and Chase arrive at Roz's cabin.

"How about you just invite me in for a drink and we will call it even." Chase opens the cabin door and they walk in.


End file.
